Ukraine ‘fires Himars into Russia for first time’

Ukraine has fired US-made weapons at targets inside Russia for the first time, according to Russian sources.

Russia’s ministry of defence and Russian military bloggers have reported that HIMARS, long-range artillery, were fired by Ukraine at Russia on Saturday evening.

“The enemy has begun using Western-made weapon systems to attack ‘old’ Russian territory. These are fragments of M142 HIMARS MLRS shells,” said the sanctioned Russian war reporter and Kremlin propagandist Evgeniy Poddubny on his Telegram channel underneath a slideshow of several photos. “The Russian Army’s air defence crews destroyed more than 10 missiles in the sky over the Belgorod region.”

Ukraine has not commented.

The US this week gave Ukraine limited permission to fire US-made weapons at targets inside Russia close to the border with the Kharkiv region.

It had delayed handing permission to Ukraine because of fears the strikes would escalate the war.

Ukraine, though, said that Russia was massing forces behind the border ahead of attacks and it needed to strike them as an act of self-defence.

US permission only covers the area immediately north of the border and only allows Ukraine to fire HIMARS at targets in Russia, not longer-range missiles.

05:35 PM BST

That’s all for today

Thank you for following our live coverage. The key developments from the day were:

• Russia’s defence ministry claimed to have captured a village in eastern Ukraine and said it is advancing “in all tactical directions”.

• Volodymr Zelensky criticised Joe Biden for not doing enough in allowing US weapons to be fired into Russia as Ukraine faces the threat of a renewed invasion. He also said he discussed bolstering Ukraine’s air defence system and the F-16 coalition at a meeting with US secretary of defense Lloyd Austin.

• Ukraine fired US-made weapons at targets inside Russia for the first time, according to Russian sources.

• Greece sent the first Nato F-16 fighter jet instructor to Ukraine, Greece’s defence-point.gr website has reported.

• Ukraine imposed emergency power shutdowns in most of the country on Sunday, a day after Russia unleashed large-scale attacks on energy infrastructure.

• German chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a speech directed at Vladimir Putin that Nato is prepared to “defend every square inch” of its territory against attacks.

• Mr Zelensky will attend the Group of Seven (G7) Summit on 13-15 June in Italy, Giorgia Meloni confirmed.

• The Ukrainian president also said that 106 countries and organisations had so far agreed to participate in a summit in Switzerland in mid-June aimed at bringing peace to his war-ravaged nation. However, he accused Beijing of working with Moscow to undermine the summit.

• A 24-year-old Ukrainian policewoman was “starved, beaten and abused” as a prisoner of war by Russian forces, her mother said as she was released after two years in captivity.

• Nearly 1,000 people attended a ceremony today honoring the memory of Ukrainian journalist Iryna Tsybukh, who was killed in action while serving as a volunteer combat medic.

05:28 PM BST

Greece sends first Nato F-16 fighter jet instructor to Ukraine

Greece has sent the first Nato F-16 fighter jet instructor to Ukraine, Greece’s defence-point.gr website has reported.

Ukrainian pilots have been training to fly F-16 fighter jets at air bases across Europe for the past 12 months, mainly in Romania and Denmark, but have not previously been reported to be in Ukraine.

“The presence of the Greek airman in the capital of Ukraine is apparently part of the F-16 training coalition initiative, an international coalition,” the website reported.

The Greek government has not commented on the report.

With the permission of the US, European countries have donated several F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine and Ukraine hopes that its first pilots trained to fly F-16s will take to the skies in the next few weeks.

Last month, France said that it may send military trainers to Ukraine.

04:39 PM BST

Nearly 1,000 people honor Ukrainian journalist and combat medic killed in action

Nearly 1,000 people attended a ceremony today honoring the memory of Ukrainian journalist Iryna Tsybukh, who was killed in action while serving as a volunteer combat medic.

Tsybukh, 25, was killed while on rotation in the Kharkiv area, where Russia started its offensive nearly a month ago.

She had left a note describing how she wished the ceremony to be held, asking people to sing Ukrainian songs and attend in vyshyvankas – traditional embroidered shirts – instead of black clothes.

“I want everyone to sing at the farewell, to learn at least 10 meaningful songs and sing them in unison, to extinguish sorrow with native songs,” she wrote. Instead of flowers she asked people to make donations to the Hospitallers Volunteer Medical Batallion, in which she served.

A large crowd gathered in the courtyard of Kyiv’s St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery, where the memorial service was held. People later joined a column that moved to central Independence Square, a ritual that has become common during funerals of servicemen killed in action, chanting “Heroes don’t die”.

Tsybukh’s death sparked wide reaction on social media, where her letter went viral for several days after her death.

“Today everything is behind me, my life has ended, and it was important for me to live it with dignity: to be an honest, kind, and loving person,” she said in the letter that she wrote a year ago while serving in the embattled Donetsk region. Her brother shared it, as she wished, on Instagram.

“To have the strength to be a free person, one must be brave,” she wrote.

04:30 PM BST

In Russia ‘punishment is more often a political tool’, says MoD

Today’s intellience update from the Ministry of Defence.

04:05 PM BST

‘Starved, beaten and abused’ – Ukrainian policewoman returns home after two years in captivity

A 24-year-old Ukrainian policewoman was “starved, beaten and abused” as a prisoner of war by Russian forces, her mother said as she was released after two years in captivity.

Maryana Checheliuk, an investigator with the National Police of Ukraine, was taken prisoner after being caught up in the siege of Mariupol’s Azovstal steel works.

Her full story was recounted to The Telegraph magazine by her family last year, who told how she had been forced through a Russian filtration camp and then blocked from returning home.

On Friday, Ms Checheliuk was released in a prisoner exchange, after enduring years of severe mistreatment, including being starved, beaten and abused. She appeared frail as she finally arrived back on Ukrainian soil in tears.

In her first phone call to her family after being released, Ms Checheliuk said: “Mummy, I’m home.”

Her mother replied: “My lovely and dear sunshine, we finally got this day.”

Read the full story here

03:06 PM BST

Ukraine publishes video from destroyed Vovchansk

The Liut Assault Brigade of Ukraine’s National Police has published a video from Vovchansk in the north of Kharkiv Oblast, where fighting continues.

The DeepState analytical project reported that 50-80 per cent of the city’s buildings have been destroyed and cannot be rebuilt.

02:55 PM BST

Zelensky to arrive in Philippines

Volodomyr Zelensky is set to visit Manila and is scheduled to arrive late on Sunday, Rappler news site reported, quoting diplomatic sources.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Philippine president’s office or the Philippine foreign ministry.

Mr Zelensky would be coming from Singapore where he made an unscripted appearance at the Shangri-La Dialogue conference, his second visit to Asia since Russia first invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

02:41 PM BST

Italy’s PM confirms Zelensky’s attendance at G7 Summit

Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the Group of Seven (G7) Summit on 13-15 June in Italy, Giorgia Meloni has confirmed.

Ms Meloni said the G7 Summit will be attended by “at least fifteen” countries and international institutions, in addition to the leaders of the Group and the Pope.

Earlier, it was also reported that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will attend the summit.

01:44 PM BST

Scholz: We will defend ‘every square inch’ of Nato territory

German chancellor Olaf Scholz has said in a speech directed at Vladimir Putin that Nato is prepared to “defend every square inch” of its territory against attacks.

Nato’s recent move to strengthen its eastern border is aimed at deterring Russia, Mr Scholz said, adding it should be clear to Moscow that the alliance will be ready to defend itself if necessary.

Speaking at the Eastern German Economic Forum Mr Scholz said: “The threat from Russia will continue, we and other allies decided last year to deploy additional units to the Baltic states and to station an entire brigade there permanently in future.

“But this turnaround in security policy is necessary to show Russia: We are prepared to defend every square inch of Nato territory against attacks.”

He said diplomacy would only be successful from a position of strength.

01:22 PM BST

Russia ‘captures village in Donetsk’

Russia’s defence ministry claims to have captured a village in eastern Ukraine and says it is advancing “in all tactical directions”.

Russian troops “have managed to liberate the village of Umanskoye in the popular republic of Donetsk”, the ministry said in reference to the Ukrainian village of Umanske, a tiny village home to fewer than 180 inhabitants before Russia’s invasion.

The village lies about 25 kilometres to the northwest of Donetsk, which is the main city of the region and is under Russian control.

Ukraine’s outnumbered and outgunned forces have been under pressure for several months, particularly since Russia launched a new push in early May around the eastern city of Kharkiv.

Russian defence minister Andrei Belousov said on Friday Russia had made advances “in all tactical directions” and that Moscow’s forces had seized 880 square kilometres of territory this year alone.

12:59 PM BST

In pictures: Zelensky meets Singapore’s leaders

12:33 PM BST

Situation on Pokrovsk front is tense, says Ukraine

On the Pokrovsk front, the Russians are trying to advance on Novooleksandrivka and Sokil, Ukraine’s General Staff has reported.

Two attacks were repelled and three more are ongoing, with defence forces taking measures to stabilise the situation, according to online Ukrainian newspaper Pravda.

11:52 AM BST

Energy shutdowns hit Ukraine after Russian attacks target infrastructure

Ukraine imposed emergency power shutdowns in most of the country on Sunday, a day after Russia unleashed large-scale attacks on energy infrastructure.

The shutdowns were in place in all but three regions of Ukraine following Saturday’s drone and missile attack on energy targets that injured at least 19 people.

Ukraine’s state-owned power grid operator Ukrenergo said the shutdowns affected both industrial and household consumers.

11:07 AM BST

Zelensky criticises Biden over Atacms ban

Report from Nicola Smith, in Singapore:

Volodymr Zelensky criticised Joe Biden for not doing enough in allowing US weapons to be fired into Russia as Ukraine faces the threat of a renewed invasion.

The Ukrainian president thanked Mr Biden for giving Kyiv permission to strike inside Russian territory with American munitions, but said restrictions – including on the use of long-range Atacms – should also be dropped.

He said: “Is that sufficient? No. Why? Because I have given you the example of airfields from which Russia is permanently firing, in calm knowing that Ukraine will not fire back because it has no corresponding systems and no permissions.”

After weeks of pressure Biden gave permission for Ukraine to use American missiles like Himars to fire across the border north of Kharkiv, where Russian forces are massing. But he blocked Ukraine from using the more advanced Atacms systems.

Mr Zelensky said Russia continued to use artillery, long-range fire, and some 300 weapons systems carrying tens of thousands of missiles on its side of the border to target the Ukrainian population.

“So they have these weapons there and they do not remove them because they know that Ukraine cannot target them with Western weaponry even if they fire against us,” he said.

10:48 AM BST

Russia claims capture of village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region

Russia’s defence ministry has claimed to have captured a tiny village in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, where it has been on the offensive making territorial gains.

Russian troops “have managed to liberate the village of Umanskoye in the popular republic of Donetsk”, the ministry said in reference to the Ukrainian village of Umanske.

The claims could not immediately be verified.

10:34 AM BST

Watch: Monument to Wagner Group founder Prigozhin unveiled in St Petersburg

A life-sized monument to the founder of Russia’s Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin has been unveiled at his grave in St. Petersburg.

The site was visited by several dozens of people, many of whom laid flowers. Some were dressed in military uniform and were wearing PMC Wagner symbols.

Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group that fought for Russia in Ukraine, waged a long-running feud with the defence establishment that culminated in an outright mutiny in late June 2023.

It ended quickly but was widely seen as a serious challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s almost quarter-century-old grip on power.

10:24 AM BST

Zelensky says 106 nations and organisations to attend Switzerland summit

Volodomyr Zelensky has said that 106 countries and organisations had so far agreed to participate in a summit in Switzerland in mid-June aimed at bringing peace to his war-ravaged nation.

Mr Zelensky wants the peace summit, scheduled for June 15-16 in Switzerland, to produce a front to support the withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine’s 1991 borders.

10:15 AM BST

Ukraine says it downs 24 Russia-launched attack drones

Ukraine’s air defence systems destroyed 24 of the 25 attack drones that Russia launched overnight, Kyiv’s air force said on Sunday.

Russia also launched an Iskander-K cruise missile towards the Kharkiv region and an anti-aircraft guided missile, the air force said on the Telegram messaging app. It did not say what happened to the missiles.

10:06 AM BST

Russia threatens former chess champion Kasparov with criminal charges

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who fled Russia a decade ago for fear of persecution, may face a criminal case in Moscow for violating the Kremlin’s “foreign agent” law, TASS news agency reported on Sunday.

Russian law enforcement officials, the state news agency reported, said there is “every reason” to charge Mr Kasparov, without providing further details. The fierce Kremlin critic could face up to two years in prison or a fine if a case is initiated, the unnamed officials said.

Russia added Mr Kasparov to the list of individuals acting as foreign agents, which includes dozens of critics of Vladimir Putin, soon after the Russian president launched his full-scale invasion on Ukraine in 2022.

09:39 AM BST

Zelensky and Pentagon chief discuss bolstering Ukraine’s air defence

Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed bolstering Ukraine’s air defence system and the F-16 coalition at a meeting with US secretary of defense Lloyd Austin.

The meeting between the Ukrainian president and the Pentagon chief took place on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit in Singapore.

“We discussed the key issues: the defence needs of our country, bolstering Ukraine’s air defence system, the F-16 coalition, and drafting of a bilateral security agreement,” Mr Zelenskyy said.

09:17 AM BST

In pictures: Zelensky in Singapore

09:13 AM BST

Zelensky says being allowed to strike from Kharkiv with some US weapons not enough

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he was grateful to the United States for allowing Kyiv to use US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) in the Kharkiv region, but added that it was not enough.

Ukraine is weathering a renewed assault from Russian forces, more than two years after the invasion began.

09:09 AM BST

Local official dies in Russia’s Belgorod as ammunition detonates, governor says

A local official in Belgorod died when some ammunition detonated, while six people were injured in Ukrainian shelling of the southern Russian region, Belgorod’s governor said on Sunday.

Igor Nechiporenko, deputy head of Korochansky district administration in Belgorod, was killed as a result of ammunition detonating, Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.

“I offer my most sincere and deepest condolences to the family and loved ones,” Mr Gladkov said.

He also said that six civilians received shrapnel injuries during Ukraine’s shelling of the town of Shebekino and were taken to hospital.

09:07 AM BST

Zelensky accuses China of undermining Ukraine summit

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Beijing of working with Moscow to undermine a summit to discuss his country’s peace blueprint.

Russia is doing “everything” to disrupt the summit set for mid-June by using Chinese influence and its diplomats, Mr Zelensky told reporters at the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Earlier, the Ukrainian president gave a keynote speech, appealing for Asian leaders to join the summit to help forge a path to end Russia’s war.

“We want Asia to know what’s going on in Ukraine,” Mr Zelensky said on Sunday. “We need the support of Asian countries. It is much needed.”

China has not immediately responded to the comments.